Whitbread CEO’s Answer to Activist Investor: Plan Is Working, We Don’t Need to Sell
There's progress to point to, but even the CEO says it will get worse before it gets better.
Luke Martin is Skift’s UK-based Jr. Hospitality Reporter, covering the dynamic world of hotels. Prior to joining Skift, Luke worked at GlobalData, where he covered a wide range of industries including hospitality, automotive, retail, and packaging.
How Marriott’s Design Hotels Landed an Independent That Once Said No
This is the trade independent hotels keep making: a major hotel group’s reach in exchange for a fee and a fight to stay distinctive. Palisociety thinks the math works.
Why A&O Hostels Is Buying Europe’s Empty Buildings
Most hospitality groups are shedding real estate. a&o is picking it up at distressed prices — a contrarian move that works up until the deals, or the lenders, run dry.
Marriott’s AI Rollout: From Pilots to ‘Points on the Board’
Marriott is now in the third phase of its AI rollout, with conversational search the highest-profile launch coming this year. Its top data and AI exec says the harder work is rethinking the workflows underneath.
Why Air Canada’s Digital Officer Is Done With AI ‘Use Cases’
Most travel companies are still cataloguing AI use cases. Air Canada's chief digital officer argues that catalogue is what’s keeping their AI work narrow and shallow.
Hilton’s CIO: Building the AI Trip Planner and Grappling With ‘Tokenomics’
A live AI tool with early conversion gains is one Hilton story. The cost of running AI across the wider company is another.
Marriott International and Google at Skift Data + AI Summit 2026
Cruise and aviation are already converting AI into revenue, while lodging's consumer-facing layer, including Marriott's own conversational search, is still arriving.
Hilton and Air Canada at Skift Data + AI Summit 2026
If you are funding AI features before the data and event architecture beneath them, this session argued you are building on sand.
Marriott’s EMEA Chief 100 Days In: A Region Running in Two Gears
The Iran war has turned Marriott’s EMEA region into two businesses at once. Jones’s bet is that Europe and Africa can carry the 20% of fee business the Middle East has lost — at least until a ceasefire changes the math.
‘Empty Calories’: Hyatt Tells Investors to Stop Counting Rooms
Hyatt wants investors to place more value on its premium guests. The catch: much of its growth pipeline depends on its easier-to-scale Essentials brands.